Public Speaking

CAVEAT: No graduate credit will be awarded if COM3401 has been successfully completed.

UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE, THE STUDENT WILL BE COMPETENT IN:

• Writing effective speech introductions which include startling statements, questions, anecdotes, quotes, suspenseful illustrations, and personal references.
• Creating memorable conclusions which include a summary and illustrations, emotional appeals, humor and challenges.
• Locating material for a speech using EBSCO and other scholarly sources in the on-line library and correctly documenting those sources within a speech outline.
• Composing a speech outline which demonstrates excellent organizational skills which thoroughly develop the topic.
• Choosing language that appeals to the five senses: sight, hearing, feeling, smell, and taste.
• Integrating illustrations within a speech which include vivid imagery.
• Applying the nonverbal research to present an effectiveness speech including eye contact, good postures, appropriate gestures, and occasional movement.
• Analyzing a speaker’s nonverbal effectiveness: eye contact, postures, gestures, facial expression, and movement.
• Presenting a speech with enthusiasm, energy, spontaneity, and communicativeness.
• Evaluating organizational patterns to determine which one is appropriate for an informative speech: topical, spatial, or chronological.
• Selecting and utilizing appropriate organizational patterns for informative speeches such as lectures or demonstrations.
• Evaluating and selecting appropriate organizational patterns for a persuasive speech: problem/solution, comparative advantage, and criteria/satisfaction.
• Applying Aristotle’s theory of persuasion including ethos, pathos, and logos.
• Utilizing emotional, logical, and credible appeals in a persuasive speech.
• Analyzing an audience and writing a speech that specifically addresses the issues that concern the group with credibility.
• Delivering a speech that shows the audience relevancy through timeliness, proximity, and impact.
• Developing a personal code of ethics for public speaking.